| BackgroundAt present,the health problems caused by chronic diseases are increasingly prominent in China.However,for many reasons,patients with chronic diseases in a stable period often take hospitals as the main way to simply purchase drugs,which increases the pressure on medical public health resources.Due to the limited capacity of primary medical and health services,the large number of hospital procedures,and the large number of patients,a single way of purchasing drugs has increased the burden on hospitals and other medical institutions,as well as the time and economic costs of patients and relatives.The popularity of retail pharmacies can meet the needs of patients with chronic diseases and relieve the pressure of medical institutions,patients and their families.Therefore,collecting and analyzing the drug purchase data of chronic disease patients in retail pharmacies will provide reference and suggestions for the service improvement of retail pharmacies,which is a practical measure to relieve the pressure of medical and health services.Research purposesAim of this study was to understand the psychological and behavioral patterns of patients with chronic diseases in retail pharmacies in Yantai Development Zone,and to analyze the impact of demographic characteristics,disease types and medical history on patients’ psychological and behavioral purchasing,so as to provide basis for personalized services in retail pharmacies.In addition,this study analyzed the reasons why patients with chronic diseases chose to purchase drugs in retail pharmacies,further explored the factors affecting the purchase of drugs in retail pharmacies and the existing problems,and provided practical strategies and suggestions for the improvement of retail pharmacy services.Materials and methods1.65 drugstores were randomly selected from 255 drugstores in Yantai Development Zone,and 50 questionnaires were distributed to each retail pharmacy.The survey contents include the basic situation of patients,their psychology and behavior of purchasing drugs,and the influencing factors of purchasing drugs in retail pharmacies.The staff interviewed the patients who bought chronic drugs in the store through random sampling,and collected the survey data of 3122 patients who bought chronic drugs.Finally,2510 valid questionnaire results were included in the study.2.Statistical questionnaire survey data,descriptive statistics on demographic characteristics,disease types and medical history of patients with chronic diseases,evaluation of psychological behavior patterns of patients with chronic diseases,statistical analysis of collected data using SPSS 26.0 and GraphPad Prism 9.0 software,and chi square test analysis of the relationship between demographic characteristics,disease types and medical history and patients’psychological behavior of drug purchase,Further,multiple logistic regression analysis was used to explore the factors influencing the patients’ psychological behavior in purchasing drugs.Main results1.The purchasing psychology of 2510 chronic disease patients were analyzed.Submissive drug purchasers were 1019 cases,accounting for 40.6%.Independent drug buyer were 748 cases,accounting for 29.8%;Follow doctor’s advice drug purchasers were 743 cases,accounting for 29.6%.2.To analyze the influencing factors of patients with chronic diseases choosing to purchase drugs in retail pharmacies.Among them,drug quality assurance,low prices,complete varieties,close proximity of retail pharmacies,good service attitude,discounts on drug promotions on holidays,exchange of member points for gifts,and free routine physical examination services are the main influencing factors to promote patients to choose to purchase drugs in retail pharmacies.3.Through the correlation analysis,it was found that the purchasers’ gender,age,education level,economic status,occupation composition,personality,marital status,medical treatment,disease type and medical history were correlated with the purchasers’ psychological behavior(P<0.05).4.Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the adherent type drug purchasers were influenced by patients’ age,educational level,monthly income,personality as well as medical history(P<0.05).Autonomous type drug purchasers were influenced by patients’ educational level,monthly income,personality,medical treatment style as well as medical history(P<0.05).Follow doctor’s advice type drug purchasers were influenced by patients’ gender,age,educational level,economic status,personality as well as medical history(P<0.05).Conclusions and recommendationsPatients with chronic diseases are generally older,with low income and long medical history,and when they go to retail pharmacies to buy drugs,they tend to show submissive psychological behaviors,and their drug buying psychology is mostly affected by patients’ age,education level,monthly income and medical history.Therefore,psychological training for retail pharmacy service staff is an important means to identify the psychological behavior of drug purchasing patients.The service level of retail pharmacies can be better improved by providing personalized services for chronic patients with submissive,autonomous and follow doctor’s advice psychological behaviors.In this way,the pressure on health services of large medical institutions can be alleviated,and the cost of economic and time for patients and their families can be reduced.For patients with chronic diseases,diverse services,such as drug promotion discounting,free physical examination,and member credit,as well as drug quality assurance,affordable prices,and good service attitudes,are some of the influencing factors that promote patients to choose to buy drugs at retail pharmacies.Therefore,retail pharmacies can manage the archives of patients with chronic diseases and provide patients with targeted knowledge education and guidance on diseases and medication.Retail drugstores need to strengthen chain,reduce prices,ensure quality;In the process of providing diversified services,we should try our best to provide more economical and convenient services for patients.Regular and reasonable professional training of retail pharmacy service staff to improve the professionalism of retail pharmacy service staff;Retail pharmacies should,with the aid of the pharmaceutical electronics platform,expand service coverage at retail pharmacies.As for the vicious competition in the drug market due to low price,it is suggested that the government strengthen the market supervision,so as to ensure the market is fair,impartial,convenient and professional. |
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